Ring of Fire Series, Round Two

The start of the Easter weekend proved to be no problem for the bull riding series at the Texas Longhorn Club Friday night.

Nine bull riders paired up with nine hard-to -ride bulls.

Shane Young brought bulls that had an excellent degree of difficulty for the riders.

Landis Hooks was first out of the chutes and was bucked off quickly, barely past the gate.

His ride was at the most three seconds.

Next out was Josh Barrentine who drew a bull that had a rougher ride than an old truck on a bumpy road.

Josh hung on and made the buzzer at eight seconds.

His ride was scored at 80 points by judges Peanut Bullion and Chris Coody.

Dawson McKee was the third rider.

McKee’s bull turned back out of the chute and did a little hard stabbing into the ground.

The eight seconds went by and the ride scored 67 points.

Josh Durant nodded his head for the gate to open and went out on a bull that bucked hard and gave Durant a pile-driving ride when the front hooves hit the dirt. Durant kept his seat for the eight seconds and Bullion and Coody gave the ride a 68 point score.

Casey Stone was out in the fifth slot.

Stone lost his seat and his grip and went off right in front of the chute.

He was the second rider bucked off and would go home with no score.

Alex Zaunbrayer came out on one of SYJ Productions younger bulls.

His control of the ride was good.

He made the eight seconds without too much trouble, but the ride only scored 63 points.

Nathan Duprey was out of position as his bull brought him out of the chute.

Duprey hung up when he was bucked off and it took the bullfighters coming in to free his hand and get him out of trouble.

Justin Wilson looked good for the first few seconds but that went away like a snowball in the sun and he was bucked off at about five seconds.

The last rider of the night, Joey Bergeron, was the hard-luck ride of the night.

Bergeron slid off and went into his riding hand.

This caused his hand to hang in the rope and enabled the bull to sling him into the air with his boots about four feet off the dirt. It was a hard hang-up and probably caused him to have a very sore shoulder the next morning.

Josh Barrentine’s 80-point ride put him in first place for the night and gave him a $366 payoff.

Josh Durant earned $244 for his second place ride of 68 points.

Dawson McKee was just out of the money with 67 points.

That is “a little tough luck for a good cowboy.” The Calcutta Friday night brought the winner of the bid on Josh Barrentine was paid $525 when Barrentine won first place.

Josh Durant’s second place finish earned his bidder $350.

There is a Calcutta each session and the pot continues to grow each time.

As important as the bull riders, the judges, the pickup man, and the bullfighters are to a rodeo there is one person that the show cannot go on without, that is the rodeo secretary.

The Texas Longhorn has one of the best secretaries on the rodeo circuit working every session.

Elizabeth Jackson keeps the books, registers the bull riders, times the rides, enters the scores, figures the payoff for the winners, helps the announcer keep the order of the riders straight and does anything else that needs to be done.

When there is a Calcutta, she works with the auctioneer and records the winning bids and the winning bidders and figures the payoff for the Calcutta.

Jackson does all this with a smile on her face and an easy, laid-back attitude.

She is confident in doing her job and the people she works with hold her in high regard.

Coleman Peveto, the rodeo director and announcer at the Longhorn said, “Elizabeth is the best secretary that I have worked with in nearly 40 years of rodeoing.” Jackson said, “I started doing this job when the lady that had the job quit.

I’ve just learned as I have gone along.” She is the mother of three children, two girls and a boy.

Her oldest daughter at age 17 competes in Louisiana High School Rodeo and has been riding for eight years.

Before high school, she competed in Little Britches Rodeo and has been to the Little Britches National Finals six times.

The middle girl, age 10, is taking time off from rodeo to adjust to a new horse and learn to rope.

“My three year old son will not be a bull rider.” Jackson said.

“He loves rodeo, always wears boots and goes to so many rodeos he knows all the cowboys by name and they all know him, but he will not ride bulls, he can rope or whatever.” Jackson is also the office manager at the Longhorn and serves as a substitute school bus driver.

She is a busy lady who ssenjoys all she does.

The third session of the Ring of Fire Series will be April 4, followed by the appearance of the Marshall Tucker Band.